A DROP in the number of people using Oxfordshire County Council’s park-and-rides has allegedly damaged business in the city.

The number of cars using Water Eaton park-and-ride dropped by more than a third in the first full year after charges were reintroduced in November 2013.

In the 2014/15 financial year, 106,516 cars were parked at the park-and-ride, compared to 169,989 the previous year.

No figures were available for Thornhill from 2013/14 onwards because the counters were disabled due to extension work.

Graham Jones, spokesman for Oxford business organisation ROX, put the fall down to the £2 charge that was introduced for parking between one hour and 11 hours.

Short-term parking had been free at the two parkand-rides owned by the county council – Water Eaton and Thornhill – from 2008 until November 2013.

The county council said the drop in usage was not unexpected and that figures in previous years had been higher than normal because people had stopped using park-and-rides run by Oxford City Council, which started charging again in 2011.

Mr Jones said: “The charges have put people off and therefore that is not doing anything for Oxford.

“The charges put people off using the park-and-rides and they have gone elsewhere where they can park.

“Oxford has lost business because of this.

“I think the county council should look at the policy of charging as part of their measures looking forward for new park-and-rides.”

The Oxford Mail can reveal that in 2013/14, the two parkand-rides were running at a loss, but the most recent revenue figures suggest this will not be the case in 2014/15.

In 2013/14 Water Eaton brought in £98,608 but made a loss of £134,897. Thornhill brought in £351,928 but made a loss of £138,180.

In 2014/15 Water Eaton made £174,055 while Thornhill made £609,050.

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: “The decline in usage at Water Eaton is not unexpected.

“It is very important to note that the peak period refers to a point when Oxford City Council had introduced charges in their park-andride sites while the county council sites remained free.

“We therefore saw a significant transfer of usage from Pear Tree [a city council run site] to Water Eaton.

“Since the county council introduced charges at its sites to reflect those already in place by the city council, the distribution of parking has rebalanced.”

Park-and-ride user Nicola Blake, a college lecturer from Littlemore, said the charges had put her off using Water Eaton.

The 25-year-old said: “Charges have made me use the park-and-ride less than I used to.

“It used to be cheaper to use the park-and-ride than other ways of getting into the city but now it would be almost the same price.

“I think introducing charges was a shock.”

Chris Tarratt, a 39-year-old charity worker from Fringford, said: “It is off-putting if there are charges.”